Wintrust Financial Corporation Completes Integration with LPL Platform

Rhea-AI Summary

LPL Financial (LPLA) announced the successful transition of Wintrust Financial 's wealth management business to LPL's Institution Services platform. The integration involves approximately 90 advisors managing about $16 billion in assets. On January 25, $15 billion of brokerage and advisory assets were onboarded to LPL, with the remaining $1 billion expected to transfer over the next several months.

The strategic relationship, initially agreed upon in February 2024, aims to enhance Wintrust's wealth management services by leveraging LPL's platform capabilities, technology, and centralized support. This integration is designed to provide a more streamlined experience for clients and an improved integrated experience for advisors.

Positive

• Successfully onboarded $15B of $16B total assets under management
• Strategic expansion adding approximately 90 advisors to LPL's platform
• Immediate revenue generation from newly transitioned assets

Negative

• $1B in assets still pending transition, representing execution risk

Insights

Financial Services Integration Specialist

This strategic integration marks a significant milestone for LPL Financial's institutional growth strategy, bringing approximately $16 billion in assets under their management infrastructure. The deal's magnitude, representing roughly 1.5% of LPL's total advisory and brokerage assets, provides meaningful scale benefits and recurring revenue opportunities.

The phased transition approach, with $15 billion already onboarded and $1 billion scheduled for the coming months, demonstrates a well-planned integration strategy that minimizes disruption to client services. This methodical approach typically results in higher client retention rates and smoother operational transitions.

This partnership exemplifies the broader industry trend where regional financial institutions are increasingly partnering with larger platforms to achieve technological scale and operational efficiency. For LPL, these institutional partnerships create a robust recurring revenue stream while expanding their geographic footprint without the capital intensity of direct acquisitions.

The integration's success will likely be measured by three key metrics: 1) Advisor retention rates during the transition period 2) Cost synergies achieved through platform consolidation 3) Revenue enhancement through improved product access and operational efficiency. The emphasis on delivering "personalized experiences" through enhanced technology suggests potential for increased wallet share and client satisfaction metrics.

The business is made up of approximately 90 advisors serving approximately $16 billion in assets.

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LPL Financial LLC, a subsidiary of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LPLA), today announced that Wintrust Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: WTFC) has transitioned support of the wealth management business of Wintrust Investments and certain private client business at Great Lakes Advisors (collectively “Wintrust”) to LPL Financial and its Institution Services platform.     

“This strategic relationship with LPL Financial is a significant step forward for Wintrust and our mission to provide exceptional wealth management advice and superior service to our clients across the country,” said Tom Zidar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Wintrust Wealth Management. “By leveraging LPL’s enhanced platform, we will deliver a more streamlined and personalized experience to our clients and a more intuitive, integrated experience for our advisors.”   

“Wintrust’s advisors now have the capabilities, technology and centralized support to differentiate their service offering and grow their practices,” said Christopher Cassidy, Senior Vice President, Head of Institution Business Development at LPL. “This strategic relationship reflects the value LPL brings to help financial institutions scale their wealth management businesses and deliver personalized experiences for their clients.”    

LPL and Wintrust Financial Corporation signed an agreement in February 2024. On January 25, about $15 billion of brokerage and advisory assets were onboarded to LPL. The remaining $1 billion of assets are expected to onboard over the next several months.   

About Wintrust    

Wintrust is a financial holding company with approximately $64.9 billion in assets whose common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. Guided by its “Different Approach, Better Results^®” philosophy, Wintrust offers the sophisticated resources of a large bank while providing a community banking experience to each customer. Wintrust operates more than 200 retail banking locations through 16 community bank subsidiaries in the greater Chicago, southern Wisconsin, west Michigan, northwest Indiana, and southwest Florida market areas. In addition, Wintrust operates various non-bank business units, providing residential mortgage origination, wealth management, commercial and life insurance premium financing, short-term accounts receivable financing/outsourced administrative services to the temporary staffing services industry, and qualified intermediary services for tax-deferred exchanges.  

About LPL Financial   

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LPLA) is among the fastest growing wealth management firms in the U.S. As a leader in the financial advisor-mediated marketplace, LPL supports more than 28,000 financial advisors and the wealth management practices of approximately 1,200 financial institutions, servicing and custodying approximately $1.8 trillion in brokerage and advisory assets on behalf of 6 million Americans. The firm provides a wide range of advisor affiliation models, investment solutions, fintech tools and practice management services, ensuring that advisors and institutions have the flexibility to choose the business model, services, and technology resources they need to run thriving businesses. For further information about LPL, please visit www.lpl.com.  

Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial (LPL), a registered investment advisor and broker dealer, member FINRA/SIPC.  

LPL Financial and its affiliated companies provide financial services only from the United States. LPL Financial and Wintrust are not affiliated.  

Throughout this communication, the terms “financial advisors” and “advisors” are used to refer to registered representatives and/or investment advisor representatives affiliated with LPL Financial.   

We routinely disclose information that may be important to shareholders in the “Investor Relations” or “Press Releases” section of our website.    

Forward-Looking Statements  

Certain of the statements included in this release, such as those regarding the expected onboarding of assets associated with the strategic relationship and the benefits anticipated of the relationship, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “assumes,” “estimates,” “projects,” “intends,” “should,” “will,” “shall” or variations of such words are generally part of forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made based on current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects upon Wintrust, LPL or both. In particular, no assurance can be provided that the assets reported as serviced by financial advisors affiliated with Wintrust will translate into assets serviced by LPL or that the benefits that are expected to accrue to Wintrust, LPL and advisors as a result of the strategic relationship will materialize. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, including economic, legislative, regulatory, competitive and other factors, and there are certain important factors that could cause actual results or the timing of events to differ, possibly materially, from expectations or estimates expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include: difficulties or delays of LPL in transitioning advisors affiliated with Wintrust, or in onboarding Wintrust’s clients and businesses or transitioning their assets from Wintrust’s current third-party custodian to LPL; the inability of LPL to sustain revenue and earnings growth or to fully realize revenue or expense synergies or the other expected benefits of the transaction, which depend in part on LPL’s success in onboarding assets currently served by Wintrust’s advisors; disruptions to Wintrust’s or LPL’s businesses due to transaction-related uncertainty or other factors making it more difficult to maintain relationships with financial advisors and clients, employees, other business partners or governmental entities; the inability of LPL or Wintrust to implement onboarding plans; the choice by clients of Wintrust-affiliated advisors not to open brokerage and/or advisory accounts at LPL; changes in general economic and financial market conditions, including retail investor sentiment; fluctuations in the value of assets under custody; and the effects of competition in the financial services industry, including competitors’ success in recruiting Wintrust-affiliated advisors. Certain additional important factors that could cause actual results or the timing of events to differ, possibly materially, from expectations or estimates expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements can be found in the “Risk Factors” and “Forward Looking Statements” (in the case of Wintrust) or the “Risk Factors” and “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” (in the case of LPL) sections included in each of Wintrust’s and LPL’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. Except as required by law, Wintrust and LPL do not undertake to update any particular forward-looking statement included in this document as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release.   

Contacts   

LPL Media Relations   
media.relations@lplfinancial.com   
(704) 996-1840

LPL Investor Relations   
investor.relations@lplfinancial.com   

Wintrust  
David A. Dykstra 
Vice Chairman & Chief Operating Officer 
(847) 939-9000 

Tracking: 686437 

FAQ

How much in assets did Wintrust transition to LPL Financial (LPLA) in January 2025?

$15 billion in brokerage and advisory assets were onboarded to LPL on January 25, 2025, with $1 billion remaining to be transferred.

How many advisors are involved in the Wintrust-LPLA platform integration?

Approximately 90 advisors serving about $16 billion in assets are involved in the integration.

When did LPL Financial (LPLA) and Wintrust sign their agreement?

LPL and Wintrust Financial signed their agreement in February 2024.

What is the timeline for completing the remaining asset transition to LPLA's platform?

The remaining $1 billion in assets is expected to be onboarded over the next several months following January 2025.